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As a judge dismissed Gov. Tom Corbett's federal lawsuit Thursday aimed at overturning sanctions against Penn State's football program, a new poll showed voters agreeing with the governor that the sanctions are "too severe."

A growing plurality of voters in the Quinnipiac University poll also favorably view the school's late football coach, Joe Paterno, despite his admission that he could have done more in handling the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal, but a majority declined to give the governor a pass for his investigation of the case as attorney general.

"Voters â¦ are still steamed with the NCAA for the harsh sanctions on the legendary program," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the poll.

The poll surveyed 1,032 registered voters between last May 30 and Tuesday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Almost half of voters (46 percent) said they think the NCAA sanctions against Penn State are too severe with only about one in eight voters (13 percent) saying they are not severe enough. About a third (32 percent) say they are appropriate. In a January Quinnipiac poll, more than half (53 percent) said the sanctions are too severe.

Three quarters of voters (75 percent) think the NCAA penalties - a four-year bowl ban, limits on player scholarships and other measures - have hurt the football program at least somewhat, with about one in five (18 percent) saying they haven't hurt much or at all.

Voters don't blame Mr. Paterno. His standing is on the rise with almost half of voters (47 percent) saying they view him favorably and fewer than three in 10 (27 percent) viewing him unfavorably. In January, it was 43 percent favorable, 29 percent unfavorable.

While the portion of the poll released Thursday dealing with the governor's favorability will not be released until today, it is clear voters remain unhappy with the way he handled the Sandusky case as attorney general.

Fewer than a quarter of voters (23 percent) said they think Mr. Corbett did enough to investigate the case when he was the state's top law enforcement official, while almost three in five (58 percent) think he did not.

"Pennsylvanians think Gov. Tom Corbett fumbled the Sandusky probe," Mr. Malloy said, but the poll shows the effect of voters' views of his handling of the case on his re-election chances remains far from clear.

Only about a quarter (23 percent) said the Penn State situation will be "very important" to their vote for governor next year and about the same proportion (24 percent) said it will be somewhat important. Almost half (48 percent) said it will not be important.

Far more likely to influence voting are health care, taxes, jobs, schools, government spending and even abortion, according to the poll. About four in five voters (79 percent) said health care will be "very important"; more than two-thirds (68 percent) said taxes; more than three-quarters (77 percent) said jobs; almost three-quarters (72 percent) said schools; about the same proportion (74 percent) said government spending; and about four in 10 (43 percent) said abortion.

In an email, Michael Barley, Mr. Corbett's re-election campaign manager, said the Sandusky investigation, begun by the governor, ended with convictions on 45 of 48 counts "and put a serial child predator in prison for the rest of his life."

"The election is still over a year-and-a-half away, and we are going to see countless polls on this race," he said. "We are focused on highlighting the governor's record of fiscal stewardship that has resulted in the closing of a $4.2 billion deficit, the creation of 125,000 private sector jobs, shepherd(ing) the growth of the natural gas industry, all while shrinking the size of government and keeping taxes low."

In other findings, the poll showed Sen. Pat Toomey, a conservative Republican, is not paying politically for his support of a compromise bill on background checks for gun buyers that he worked out with West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin.

More than half (54 percent) said Mr. Toomey's co-sponsorship of the bill made them view him more favorably and only one in 10 (10 percent) said they view him less favorably.

More than four in five voters (84 percent) say they at least somewhat support a law requiring the checks at gun shows and online (67 percent strongly support that), almost exactly the same proportion as in April.

Almost half of voters (46 percent) said they approve of the way the senator is doing his job while about three in 10 (29 percent) said they disapprove. His numbers in April stood at 48 percent approval, 30 percent disapproval. About two in five (39 percent) view Mr. Toomey favorably with about a quarter (24 percent) viewing him unfavorably.

In the first test of his 2016 re-election chances, Mr. Toomey came out ahead of his 2010 challenger, Democratic former congressman Joe Sestak, whom he defeated to win the seat.

More than two in five (42 percent) said they would vote for Mr. Toomey if the election were today, while fewer (37 percent) said they would vote for Mr. Sestak.

Mr. Sestak announced recently that he was forming a committee to explore another Senate run.

Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com

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